For the batch of Walter Cronkite School students graduating on May 15, a ranking of newspaper reporting as the second-worst job of 2014 is not promising.
CareerCast.com, a job-searching website, determined this ranking in their annual worst and best jobs list. Each career on the lists was scored based on environment, income, outlook and stress.
Mathematician topped the best jobs list, followed by tenured university professor. The one career ranked lower than newspaper reporter was lumberjack.
A major reason for newspaper reporting’s low rank was the projected 13 percent decline in job growth by 2022, as cited by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I can see why to an outsider that looks like a tremendous drop, but what I think it exemplifies is this shift that we’ve known about for quite some time,” said Mark Lodato, assistant dean of the Walter Cronkite School.
He said it is important to consider context when looking at this sort of statistic.
The projected job decrease is based largely on the decline of print news outlets. Lodato said it does not account for the job openings being created as new forms of communication and storytelling evolve.
“It’s a different world. In many ways it’s better, in many ways it’s more challenging,” said Tim McGuire, Frank Russell Chair for the Business of Journalism at the Cronkite School.
In 2011, McGuire helped design “After Cronkite,” a series of informational sessions to help students prepare for entering the workforce after graduation. Though the concept was well received, attendance to the sessions fell below expectations.
“When you’re a senior, you ought to be totally focused on what you’re going to do about getting a job,” McGuire said. “It should be a strategic operation and too many of our seniors don’t take that seriously. I’m a huge supporter of students, but this is something that they’re just not listening carefully enough to.”
Despite his reprimanding statement, McGuire said the level of passion displayed by the students at the Cronkite School is high. He said students with a combination of passion, skill and critical thinking will not have trouble finding a job.
Mike Wong, director of career services for the Cronkite School, said he shared this sentiment.
“As a career services guy, I’m not that concerned that there won’t be jobs out there, that the entry-level jobs are going to dry up — they’re not,” Wong said.
Cronkite School graduates have had a good track record of finding post-graduate employment. Based on a career services survey of over 1,000 alumni from the graduating classes of 2009 to 2012, 93 percent were currently employed. From this percentage of employed alumni, 79 percent were working in a media-based job.
Wong said these numbers are expected to rise as more surveying of those graduates is done.
Instead of worrying about leaving school without a job, Wong said graduates should worry about their career 10 to 15 years down the line. In this industry, it is the established workers who have “a target on their back” when the economy sours or cost-cutting measures occur.
Students are not being significantly affected by this projected decline in jobs either.
“I don’t think it impacts their choice, but I do think it makes them want to focus on being more well-rounded and learning skills with online media,” journalism sophomore Emmy Nicholson said.
Although Nicholson has an emphasis in print journalism, the numbers do not scare her. She said that while the medium is changing, the essential skills of journalism are the same.
Journalism senior Sam Rabadi also said he felt confident about the job market.
“These projections have been in play for at least a decade,” Rabadi said.
While he said he has experienced some difficulty in securing internships in media positions, he said he is not worried about entering the workforce, due in large part to the experience he has obtained while at the Cronkite School.
It is one thing to find a job, but to find the right job is the real struggle, and one that Lodato said the Cronkite School tries to help students solve.
“The challenge is always finding the right job for the right student,” Lodato said.
Contact the reporter at kristy.westgard@asu.edu
